[Q] Smartphone for an Audiophile - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Presently have a Galaxy Nexus & an S2. Both are fine phones in their own right but....
I don't think there all that good at audio reproduction..
I want to use my flac music files with kplisch earphones with Poweramp.
Can you recommend an andriod smartphone thats got excellent sound quality?
As the title says....I'm looking for a Smartphone for an Audiophile.

124 Views & no takers

HTC amaze
Sent from my MB525 using XDA

a HTC maybe? they have beats audio
Sensation, Sensation XE, One X, S, V...

You should install Equalizer on whatever phone you get. It has a system wide EQ that doesn't require root.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smartandroidapps.equalizer
I'm not really sure what Beats Audio does, I imagine its just an equalizer. I imagine the beats headphones are a total scam as they are made by Monster the same company that rips people off by selling them overpriced HDMI cables saying they are somehow better.

Rezound or One X
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA

You do know Texas instruments bought burr brown a few years ago? On that note I prefer ti's sound chip over wolfson's slightly. The sound is cleaner and more balanced. The wolfson sounds great but has muddier bass.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Any phone with Beats Audio (some say it isn't THAT good) or any Xperia phone (the Xperia P have xLoud + 3D Sound)
Sent from my X10 Mini Pro using Tapatalk

I'm in the UK so it'd have to be a model that works over here.
I've heard that beats audio doesn't make that much difference & doesn't really improve the sound

Try the Sony Ericsson smart phones as they produce the best quality audio. Like Xperia, Walkman Live, etc...

Stay away from anything with beats. The headphones are overpriced rubbish (you have your own anyway) and the sowftware is just a glorified EQ which in my opinion is far to exaggerated and detracts from the sound quality. I'm not sure which phones have the best DAC chips but I bet it would be one of the Sony phones marketed for music playback. if you really wanted to figure it out you could go through each prospective phones spec sheets and compare the data.

Or you could do what I did and accept that phones arent very good at audio playback and get yourself a decent music player. i went and bought sansa clip which is so much better than my galaxy s2 at music playback

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Say NO to beats audio - it's overpriced and you get nothing special in terms of hardware. Almost every HTC's are SoC and are all the same with audio hardware.
I own HD2 and sound quality is very good, though far from superior. Some samsung's are good too, few motorola's have excellent audio quality.

I've always thought beats to be a gimmick.
Is there anyway of finding out what DAC is in a smart phone. I tried google but didn't get very far.
Whats the new HTX One X like for music with beats off of course.
Any other recommendation's would be cool.

Get the Galaxy S. Remember: only the original Galaxy S and its variants (captivate, vibrant, epic touch something). Its Wolfson DAC is awesome, it's even more powerful with Voodoo Sound. And with a decent audio player (like PowerAmp) = perfect.

aluvn said:
Get the Galaxy S. Remember: only the original Galaxy S and its variants (captivate, vibrant, epic touch something). Its Wolfson DAC is awesome, it's even more powerful with Voodoo Sound. And with a decent audio player (like PowerAmp) = perfect.
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What about the galaxy S Plus?

@home said:
What about the galaxy S Plus?
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SGS Plus also uses a Wolfson DAC like the original SGS, but not exactly the same one. Supercurio (Voodoo sound developer) said there will be no Voodoo Sound for the SGS+ because of that.

WOW. Do not listen to ANYTHING people say regarding Beats and HTC. It's just a terrible equalizer that bloats the bass, and shatters the mids and don't even ask about highs. To get straight to the point: no phone currently out is good source material. At all. You should get a portable amp, like say, the E7 or E17 and run with that. Beats is THE ABSOLUTE WORST thing you can go for right now.
That being said, I suppose the Galaxy S is best for your needs. I would hazard a guess that most Sony phone have decent source components in them as well.
Seriously can't believe people are recommending the One X or the Rezound. If it's just because Beats, that's silly. Has NOTHING to do with the quality of the source components. Beats Audio is a terrible program and nothing more (outside of the terrible earbuds and terrible cans)

ninjames said:
WOW. Do not listen to ANYTHING people say regarding Beats and HTC. It's just a terrible equalizer that bloats the bass, and shatters the mids and don't even ask about highs. To get straight to the point: no phone currently out is good source material. At all. You should get a portable amp, like say, the E7 or E17 and run with that. Beats is THE ABSOLUTE WORST thing you can go for right now.
That being said, I suppose the Galaxy S is best for your needs. I would hazard a guess that most Sony phone have decent source components in them as well.
Seriously can't believe people are recommending the One X or the Rezound. If it's just because Beats, that's silly. Has NOTHING to do with the quality of the source components. Beats Audio is a terrible program and nothing more (outside of the terrible earbuds and terrible cans)
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+1

Related

Audio and camera quality comparison questions.

Well im on verizon and in DESPERATE need upgrade from my tbolt. I am really interested in the one x but verizon isnt going to offer it. In fact the only thing that seems worth it on verizon is the s3. Ive looked for revies but can find any that compares the Samsungs audio and htc beats audio. Can anyone tell me what they think is better for sound?
As far as camera goes, it looks like the one x has better/more features with its camera. Please correct me if im wrong.
the s3 will have the wolfson dac audio chip, supercurio a member here will work wonders for the audio.
check out voodoo sound on the sgs forums
There isn't much difference in the cameras overall to be honest (I have a One X, and also had hands-on the S3). In good lighting conditions the S3 takes slightly better shots, in lower light the One X does. S3 does better video.
In relation to audio - I didn't have enough time to properly A/B the S3, but the (international) One X SQ is very average.

S3 Audio Quality

Hey all!
Just wanted to share my opinion ...
I personally think after using S3 for about a Week now, that S3's Audio Quality "is far superior in Comparison to an iPhone or hTc Beats".
I've used these both.
Does someone else thinks the same, or is it my Love for S3 which makes me believe this ???
(Headset Sound)
Sent from my Samsung*I9300*Galaxy S III
mustafa.millwala said:
Hey all!
Just wanted to share my opinion ...
I personally think after using S3 for about a Week now, that S3's Audio Quality "is far superior in Comparison to an iPhone or hTc Beats".
I've used these both.
Does someone else thinks the same, or is it my Love for S3 which makes me believe this ???
Sent from my Samsung*I9300*Galaxy S III
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As per other SGS3 audio posts try reading them many say not loud enough .
Personally i will not disagree with your viewpoint .
jje
I love the quality but don't think it goes loud enough; its noticeably more quiet than my S2.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
You could give franco's kernel a try, he has boosted the volume significantly and it sounds great without impacting the audio quality.
Highly recommend it, and the bonus of better battery life too
Olywa
Like I've said before, listen to a Nokia N95 speaker or headphones and you'll realise how poor S3 really is.
Michael_P said:
Like I've said before, listen to a Nokia N95 speaker or headphones and you'll realise how poor S3 really is.
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If you listen to an Xperia X8 it is better then the nokia and the s3 speaker you can actually almost hear the bass lol..
Meemo23 said:
If you listen to an Xperia X8 it is better then the nokia and the s3 speaker you can actually almost hear the bass lol..
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Yeah I have heard plenty SE and a few Motorola phones that put shame to Samsung phones.

[Q] Best Android Phone for Sound quality?

Hello all,
When I got my HTC Desire a year and a bit ago, I got really disappointed with the Sound quality on it.
I love listening to music, and I think I am quite picky on the music quality as well.
Now when listening to music on my desire, I can clearly hear interference with WLAN/2g/3g, a bit similar to how it sounds when a phone is too close to a regular phone when having a call.
Now that really winds me up, as the phone is practically unusable for me as a music player and I am looking for a replacement.
Can anyone of you recommend me a Android phone with a very good sound quality?
Or is my Desire just an exception?
Thanks!
Well you can try Galaxy S with voodoo (slightly outdated but the best) , S2(Yamaha chips aren't that great) or S3 (if you have the cash:silly Nexus S with Voodoo and Galaxy Nexus are also exceptionally good. Some Samsung phones have DAC, but NOT ALL.
The new Xperia phones are worth a go, or do a bit of modding with the older ones to have the same functionality (clearbass, surround etc.) They have excellent sound, but it is expected of a Sony phone.
You "can" try out BEATS in HTC, though I wouldn't recommend doing so.
The HTC Desire is the exception for a high-end at that time, my Milestone XT was great.
P.S If you want more info go GSMArena and check out the sound quality section for phones in reviews.
Jestor said:
Hello all,
When I got my HTC Desire a year and a bit ago, I got really disappointed with the Sound quality on it.
I love listening to music, and I think I am quite picky on the music quality as well.
Now when listening to music on my desire, I can clearly hear interference with WLAN/2g/3g, a bit similar to how it sounds when a phone is too close to a regular phone when having a call.
Now that really winds me up, as the phone is practically unusable for me as a music player and I am looking for a replacement.
Can anyone of you recommend me a Android phone with a very good sound quality?
Or is my Desire just an exception?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Real life experience: Galaxy SIII or Xperia S.
Ps: if you really care about sonic experience in your phone, Try PowerAmp (trial version/paid) from market, it gives the best sound quality ever even on a crappy sound-chip of Samsung galaxy SII
Swyped from my Samsung Galaxy SII

[Q] How is volume w. Headphones compared to S4?

Hi!
I like the look and especially the size of the ONE MAX.
Can someone tell me how the volume compared to a Galaxy S4 I9505 (whout any Modification) is?
ONLY the volume with headphones on, not the stock headphones - any headphones. I just need to know if it is - via headphones - loud or if it isn't
Is it louder or would say it is less loud?
I know it sounds crazy, but this is one of the most important questions to me. I use my smartphone 50% Music, 15% Camera, 25% Internet and 10% the rest. :good:
I hope to hear from you,
have a nice day,
lienot
Never used S4 before, but from my experience HTC devices have always sounded better on headphones vs the comparable Samsung devices.
I've used both samsung s4 and htc One Max.
S4 I can hear at max volume through earphone but not my one max. It's higher!
Even Sound Quality HTC wins! in earphones , headphones, and speakers; The HTC Boomsound wins by far!
That my opinion dude!
I dont know about S4 but Sound Quality is certainly better than Note 3.
However, its not better than Beats Audio ?
My phone is not rooted yet but I will root it after 4.4 update.
I wanted to ask a question if there is a custom ROM with Beats Audio for Onr Max?
Sent from my HTC One max using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
farazhassankhan said:
I dont know about S4 but Sound Quality is certainly better than Note 3.
However, its not better than Beats Audio ?
My phone is not rooted yet but I will root it after 4.4 update.
I wanted to ask a question if there is a custom ROM with Beats Audio for Onr Max?
Sent from my HTC One max using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One max does not have Beats Audio, I have both a one x (beats audio) and a one max and also and S4.
With my one max i'm using a headphone pioneer sound clarity, I prefer it to my one x.. Beats does not mean best sound ever although I'm using beats Headphones with it. (btw, I used my phone for 70% music listening, internet, phone and gaming only 30%.
Hope it helps
hellxprexx said:
One max does not have Beats Audio, I have both a one x (beats audio) and a one max and also and S4.
With my one max i'm using a headphone pioneer sound clarity, I prefer it to my one x.. Beats does not mean best sound ever although I'm using beats Headphones with it. (btw, I used my phone for 70% music listening, internet, phone and gaming only 30%.
Hope it helps
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So you want to say that I need to use different headphones (of some good quality) with One Max instead of Beats Audio?
Sent from my HTC One max using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
farazhassankhan said:
So you want to say that I need to use different headphones (of some good quality) with One Max instead of Beats Audio?
Sent from my HTC One max using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
You should give a try to all the options before making any purchase. I'm not telling to buy, but it's only my opinion about the sound quality. My wife prefer the beat headphone just because its more comfortable, and the color. So every one has a different opinion. for me its only sound quality. therefore i prefer the one max with pioneer.
Just try to hear the sound from different headphone, and choose yours.
Before purchasing any, you may test at the shop itself. I always do it.
farazhassankhan said:
I dont know about S4 but Sound Quality is certainly better than Note 3.
However, its not better than Beats Audio ?
My phone is not rooted yet but I will root it after 4.4 update.
I wanted to ask a question if there is a custom ROM with Beats Audio for Onr Max?
Sent from my HTC One max using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking of this, does anyone know what changes were made when HTC quit doing the Beats thing? I'd imagine that all the important hardware (e.g. the isolated ground for the headphone jack, etc.) is all still intact, after all the only real "beats" concept is the EQ software (which, IMHO, is inferior what can be achieved in DSP).
Sent from my HTC6600LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
belly of the beast said:
Speaking of this, does anyone know what changes were made when HTC quit doing the Beats thing? I'd imagine that all the important hardware (e.g. the isolated ground for the headphone jack, etc.) is all still intact, after all the only real "beats" concept is the EQ software (which, IMHO, is inferior what can be achieved in DSP).
Sent from my HTC6600LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, beats is majorly the EQ part, we don't have solid proof about the presence of hardware for this.

Sound Quality Comparison

Time for a new Cell Phone (on Verizon as it's the best service around here) Curious if any of you guys with 4.0 players (with poweramp and voodoo sound) could comment on how a LG G3 or Samsung S5 sound compared to the 4.0, I don't want another phone with music playback like the Droid Razr.
You have listed phones which came out few months ago..I am pretty sure that have better sound/ speakers compared to galaxy player.. As related to Poweramp and voodo sound ....you can go to Lg3 & S5 forums to get more info...you can find videos on YouTube about comparison✌✌✌
Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
mac1996 said:
You have listed phones which came out few months ago..I am pretty sure that have better sound/ speakers compared to galaxy player.. As related to Poweramp and voodo sound ....you can go to Lg3 & S5 forums to get more info...you can find videos on YouTube about comparison✌✌✌
Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't take this the wrong way, but the age of the device doesn't automatically mean better sound, Voodoo doesn't work at all on the G3 or S5 because they DON'T have the Wolfson DAC that the SGP 4.0 has, and it's fairly well known most cell phones don't focus on audio quality (for music playback), they are more about call quality, as exampled by my Razr Maxx that gave me excellent call quality but sucked horribly on music playback quality when compared to the SGP 4.0, with the SGP 4.0 having been released to market a month BEFORE the Droid Razr.
Also I've been to the S5 and G3 forums and watched MANY MANY videos on youtube, but non spent anytime talking about the audio quality when listening to music thru headphones, this is why I asked here, was to see if anyone that has/had a SGP 4.0 has recently gotten one of the G3 or S5 to give their opinion on sound quality differences using their favorite headphones.
either way it doesn't matter now we got new phones on Saturday, I went with the G3.

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